"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What's hot and what's not in the library now.

It's nearing the end of 1st quarter. Time to take a temperature check. What are students reading?

Our school asks each student to read a book during the summer and then they have an accountability activity once school starts up in the fall. The three books that they read are:

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (10th grade)

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (11th grade)

The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho (12th grade)

These three books are my highest circulating books, for obvious reasons. Uglies and Hunger Games are the first books in a series. All the books in these series are very popular here in the library. That makes me happy. Our summer assignment works if it gets students to read beyond the assignment.

What's hot...

The list below reflects the most popular books in the library that kids selected themselves. I skipped over books that were part of an assignment.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, #2 in Uglies series

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collin, #2 in Hunger Games series

Specials by Scott Westerfeld, #3 in Uglies series

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, #3 in Hunger Games series

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Maze Runner by James Dashner

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, I'm glad to see a classic on the list!

Candor by Pam Bachorz, this was one of my top 20 summer books so I've promoted it.

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley, another Washington author!

Paranormalcy by Keirsten White

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Looking over the list I'd say that dystopian novels and realism are the hottest books in the library.
The other thing that is hot in my library right now is my Mock Printz Workshop. I have over 50 kids participating this year and the books we are reading are always checked out! It is so cool. None of the 15 books on that list are reflected on this list because I considered them as part of an "assignment." My 2012 Mock Printz list is here.

What's not...

Books in a series. I've heard more kids complain about all the series they have to keep track of and how they are getting tired of them.

Paranormal Romances. Though we aren't quite done yet, I'd say that the paranormal romances aren't as hot as in years past. Evidenced by the fact that the #3 book in the The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, Forever, hasn't even cracked my top 25 books. And kids were crazy for that series last year.

About series books, I love series. BUT, I love it when a book can stand on its own. Example, I loved If I Stay and had no idea there was a second book ... BUT both could stand on their own. It was the The Immortals series that really irked me ... the books were set up for a series, so the conclusion of what started in the first book didn't actually finish until the last one. While the Harry Potter books have Voldemort recurring in each book, there's still a story, a climax, and an ending to each book - we just see more character development and more action as the books continue. Just my thoughts!